Former Kyrgyz Security Chief Tashiev Confirms Criminal Case Against Him |
Crossroads Asia | Politics | Central Asia
Former Kyrgyz Security Chief Tashiev Confirms Criminal Case Against Him
In his statement, Tashiev urges people not to protest and “act only within the law.”
An October 2020 photo of Kamchybek Tashiev and Sadyr Japarov.
On April 29, Otkurbek Rakhmanov, the director of the Region TV channel and an associate of former head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev, posted an appeal to social media from the beleaguered politician.
In the statement, Tashiev acknowledged that a criminal case has been opened against him. “I have to address you regarding the criminal case initiated against me… I have the opportunity to fully defend myself legally in this criminal case and, God willing, I am not guilty of anything, I will be acquitted.”
Tashiev urged people not to protest and “act only within the law.” He ends the statement optimistically: “Everything will be fine.”
Tashiev led the powerful State Committee for National Security (GKNB or SCNS) from October 2020 to February 2026, having come into power with his long-time political ally, fellow populist Sadyr Japarov. The duo was often referred to in Kyrgyzstan as eki dos – the “two friends.”
On February 10 Japarov dismissed Tashiev from his post while the latter was out of the country for a medical appointment.
In the wake of the shattered tandem, old corruption allegations – which had earned the journalists that first aired them years ago the ire of the state – floated to the surface. Tashiev’s nephew was detained and a number of close associates questioned, including Tashiev’s son Tai-Muras. When Tashiev returned to Kyrgyzstan in March, he too was questioned – as a “witness.”
In accusing Tashiev’s close associates and family of corruption, the Kyrgyz government appeared to be exposing and dismantling Tashiev’s social and financial networks. But it stepped carefully around Tashiev himself.
That dance appears to be ending. In early April, Tashiev’s brother – Shairbek Tashiev – was arrested for corruption and now it appears that........